Coronation Street actor returns for sixth time in grim Gary and Ross story

| Freelance Soaps Reporter Published November 3, 2026 9:10am Updated November 3, 2026 9:10am An impressive number of roles! (Picture: ITV/Danielle Baguley/Shutterstock) With Coronation Street having the lengthy history it does and only so many actors in the UK, a number of cast members have played multiple roles over the years. One of these actors is Mark Smalley, who first rocked up in Weatherfield almost a decade ago as bad-apple Jimmy, an associate of serial killer Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre) in 2017, before a second stint as John the scaffolder in 2022 among others, notching five different roles in the show. Mark has been cast for a sixth time, in a completely different role, and will play a part in the ongoing prison feud between con Gary Windass (Mikey North) and screw Ross Wilkes (Ian Burfield). Taking to Instagram back in August with a montage of clips from his time on the street, Mark captioned the post: ‘Just had the best day filming what will be my fooking 6th character over the years in the legendary Coronation Street. ‘As always all the cast and crew were absolutely fantastic to work with. It really is always a pleasure. ‘Watch this space for a very exciting storyline to unfold. Just wish my part was bigger because I’m missing it already. That’s what she said’ Yesterday, Mark uploaded a freeze-frame of his character alongside Ross in the prison to Instagram. He captioned the image: ‘Don’t miss Coronation Street. There’s a nasty bugger turns up in the clink…’ William Teasdale, who plays Marco Rhodes, Gary’s cellmate and one of Ross’ favourite targets wrote: ‘Proper legend’ in the comment section, to which Mark replied: ‘Cheers my mate, was great working with you on this. You’re doing an incredible job’ Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. The prison-based feud between Gary and Ross is set to escalate to extreme levels, with actor Mikey North already teasing how violent things are set to get. ‘The amount of hours I’ve spent in makeup getting injuries put on! Gary’s surely done the most fight scenes in the history of Coronation Street and he’s probably about to add to it in some serious numbers.’ On how his alter-ego feels about his current spell in the clink, he said: ‘‘It’s obviously not Gary’s first rodeo in prison – he’s a seasoned professional at this rate! ‘There’s going to be lots coming up with Gary having to protect himself inside, so there’s so much going on there. Ross is a toxic bully (Picture: ITV) Ross has established himself as a loathsome character outside of work, with his toxic, misogynistic and homophobic views subtly influencing his son Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall), who Ross is trying to re-mould into a ‘real man’. With Gary, though, he looks to take a more direct approach, letting him know off the jump that he’s in charge – and just how dangerous crossing him could prove to be. ‘Gary finds it really strange and doesn’t quite know what’s going on,’ Mikey says. ‘Ross’ behaviour and some of the things he says are quite odd – Gary doesn’t want to rebel against him too much too quickly because he thinks Ross might look after him in there, but Gary is definitely sceptical and taken aback.’ To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video On the danger of crossing a character as vicious as Ross, he said: ‘The great thing about Gary is that he’ll always do what he thinks is right without necessarily thinking about the consequences first, which is exactly why he’s in this situation. ‘So maybe he needs to start thinking six months ahead before jumping in.’ Yesterday saw Ross continue his torment of Marco, resulting in him staying in his cell and missing his scheduled visit with Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby). Later, he took great pleasure in floating the idea to Gary that he’d see his wife, Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) and Idris Nazir (Junade Khan) looking cosy in the Rovers. Deals of the Day QVC shoppers can save £159 on Elemis' biggest beauty gift set of the year This Hoover vacuum is a game-changer for pet owners and muddy homes The wellbeing brand behind everyone's favourite candles has launched its biggest sale yet See London's Christmas lights from an open-top double-decker bus this winter My skin always suffers when the heating goes on but this serum changed that Arrow MORE: Coronation Street’s Georgia May Foote confirms romance with music star Arrow MORE: Killer Gary in Coronation Street takes on rapist Ross in hellish prison war Arrow MORE: New Coronation Street spoiler videos reveal two violent acts next week The Soaps Newsletter – Weekly Sign up for exclusive spoilers and interviews, handpicked by our Soaps Editor.